Fake Death of the Stand-In Ex-Wife
She simply gestured for us to sit on two folding metal chairs while she leaned against the edge of a battered metal desk.
"You're the ex-wife," Evelyn said, her voice dry, raspy, and stripped of all sentimentality.
"Yes," I replied, keeping my spine straight.
"And you want to vanish."
"I want to live without someone watching my every breath," I said, my hands resting instinctively over the wool of my coat, shielding the swell beneath. "I need an identity that cannot be queried through standard credit bureaus or state databases. A clean slate."
Evelyn’s gaze dropped to my midsection, lingering on the subtle, guarded posture of my hands. Her thin lips tightened into a grim, unyielding line.